The present invention relates to improved apparatus and methods for facilitating the negotiations for the purchase and sale of goods or services. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for selling goods or services having negotiable prices over a global computer network such as the Internet. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to improved systems and methods for facilitating the negotiation and sale of large scale transactions such as automobile purchases, which are typically negotiated. To this end, the present invention provides an apparatus and method that preferably uses the Internet to bring together a purchaser with a seller of goods or services to complete in real time the selection, price, negotiation, sale and financing of goods or services.
There are numerous methods for matching buyers and sellers of various goods or services. On the most basic level, an individual buyer might discover the goods or service being offered for sale through advertising or word of mouth, and then directly contact the seller. Once communication has commenced, negotiations take place which may or may not result in a consummated sales transaction.
For large scale transactions, such as for the purchase of automobiles or real estate, the process is usually more complicated. First, the buyer will wish to narrow his search according to certain criteria such as price, size and location. Where the goods sought to be purchased is an automotive vehicle, the criteria will typically also include the vehicle's manufacturer, model, year of manufacture, as well as numerous additional options such as color, engine size, etc. This criteria permits the buyer to avoid spending time looking at goods which are of only tangential interest or of no interest at all, and instead focus on goods which most suit the buyer's needs.
Recently, the global computer network, commonly referred to as the Internet, has been used not only for the advertising of goods or services, but also as a place for completing purchasing transactions. Typically, Inter net websites where merchandise or services can be purchased consist of a picture or description of the goods or services being offered, the price at which such goods or services are being offered and an order form for a customer to enter personal or payment information. Such sites are not well suited for the sale of goods or services that are typically negotiated, such as unique, surplus, high volume, discontinued items, negotiable services, or large scale transactions such as real estate or automobiles. The known commercial websites are interactive only to the extent that a customer is able to select a particular item for purchase and to enter payment and shipment information. Such websites include so-called “auction” sites in which potential buyers may submit their own price that they are willing to pay for a particular product until a set deadline has expired. This bidding process on the Internet does not allow a purchaser to negotiate directly with the seller of the goods or services.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,138 issued to Godin describes a computer auction system enabling consumers to bid on different products utilizing their home computer. The price varies according to the number of bids submitted by consumers and the amount of time remaining in an established time limit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,082 issued to Silverman et al. describes a computerized matching system for matching potential buyers and sellers of commodities. Buyers and sellers are capable of transmitting parameters for a sale to one another, but the system does not provide direct negotiations to facilitate the purchase and sale of goods or services. Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,288 issued to Solomon describes a system enabling buyers to negotiate, and “haggle”, with a computer for the purchase of goods or services. The computer is programmed to simulate human behavior but a human is not utilized in the negotiation process. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,115 issued to Fraser describes a communications network such as the Internet which is used to connect buyer terminals with seller terminals for facilitating the purchase and sale of real estate. Potential buyers are automatically evaluated to determine whether they meet minimum criteria for the purchase of specific property listed. Again, these systems do not provide the means for buyers and sellers to both utilize the benefits of the Internet, namely the billboard-type communication of goods or services to be sold, with the ability to negotiate the purchase and sale of such goods or services which is typically available only in face to face transactions.
The difficulties with purchasing and selling of goods over the Internet is most obvious in connection with the sale of automobiles wherein the culture of automobile shopping has always included negotiating or “haggling” prior to consummation of a vehicle sale. The reason for such negotiations is that consumers typically require such communications to ensure that they are obtaining the best deal possible. This is particularly true as the net cost for automobiles may vary greatly from location to location due to such factors as dealer overhead, shipping costs, dealer rebates, etc. However, recent attempts to sell vehicles over the Internet have eliminated the ability for buyers and sellers to negotiate directly resulting in both buyers and sellers of automobiles being unsatisfied with their Internet transaction experience. At present, automotive e commerce is fragmented and inconsistent. Moreover, current automotive e commerce systems fail to provide either an automotive service relationship or long-term customer satisfaction which are two of the most important aspects of automobile sales necessary for long term success and profitability.
Currently, there are three types of automobile e commerce companies. First, automotive dealers often have their own websites which advertise the dealer and vehicles located at that specific dealer, and which typically direct website viewers to contact the dealer directly by telephone or to go to the dealer in person. These dealer websites lack sophistication and are helpful only to website viewers who reside in proximity to that specific dealer. Moreover, these dealer websites are not typically interactive as they do not provide consumers with the ability to buy such a vehicle, let alone actually negotiate the purchase of a vehicle. At best, a dealer website is merely an electronic version of a newspaper flyer.
A second type of automobile e commerce company generally only refers a buyer to an automotive dealership. These referral e commerce companies typically advertise various manufacturers and models of vehicles. Once a vehicle has been selected by a purchaser, the sale is “referred” to a dealer requiring that the purchaser await contact from a dealership which typically takes one to two days if all, or the purchaser has to call the dealership directly, a situation similar to using the yellow pages to select a dealership. Unfortunately, referral e commerce companies usually do not provide information on the actual availability of a specific automobile, nor do they provide information on price, or other options. These referral companies include CarBuyers.com™ which is a compilation of newspaper classified ads, Autobytel.com™ which is a referral service which charges participating dealers a fee, Dealernet.com™ which lists participating dealers, Carpoint.msn.com™ which is Microsoft's referral site and AutoVantage.com™.
The third type of automobile e commerce company provides direct sales of vehicles to buyers. Unfortunately, these companies do not typically make provision for the purchaser to test drive the vehicle. In fact, this provision would be disadvantageous to a direct sale e commerce company as once a purchaser goes to a local dealership to test drive the automobile, the dealership has unwittingly been supplied with a customer from a competitive website.
Moreover, if a purchaser actually buys a vehicle over the Internet, the purchaser is not provided with a place for servicing the vehicle if problems arise with the new vehicle. In addition, if warranty work is required, it is often very difficult to find a dealership that is willing to provide free service of a vehicle which has been purchased from others. Direct sales e commerce companies includes CarPrices.com™ which will deliver a vehicle to a local dealer, CarsDirect.com™ which delivers a vehicle directly to the customer location without dealer involvement, iMotors.com™ and Greenlight.com™ which typically also deliver the vehicle to the customer's location.
Thus, there exists a need for a dynamic and interactive computer initiated system which is capable of facilitating the buying and selling of goods or services, particularly automotive vehicles, over the global computer network.
In addition, it would be highly desirable to provide a system and method which combines the data communication advantages of the Internet with the ability to negotiate directly and in real time with a seller of goods or services.
Moreover, it would be advantageous to provide an improved network system which not only provides for direct real time speech communication with a seller of goods or services, but also provides for a supplemental sales organization which is capable of taking over negotiations when the primary seller has ceased operating for the day.